Why Cool Is Still Cool
By Dr. Marciene Mattleman
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Jonah Berger, faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania, in an article on The New York Times on word usage, traces the word cool. It described the weather in 1600 and an inner state of calm. Now cool is associated with almost anything good - music, a restaurant or a minivan.
He and a colleague have traced thousands of words through a searchable database of more of five million books from the last 200 years tracking the popularity of words and phrases over time.
In the 1880's people used the phrase sudden increase while today we talk about a sharp increase. Likewise the bright future has replaced promising future.
These sensory metaphors are successful because they help express abstract concepts by linking to direct bodily experiences in the physical world. A cold person and a bar that's hip will be remembered and cool is still cool.
